Utilities are increasingly using networked meters to reduce meter-reading costs and to monitor user consumption in real-time. Networking applications such as power line communications (PLC) typically use the TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/internet protocol) stack architecture. The conventional MAC (medium access control) layer is part of a network protocol layer that controls the access to a communications channel. In conventional network architectures, each protocol stack is associated with a single network. The conventional MAC layer is normally assigned a unique address to identify itself in various communications within the network. The conventional MAC layer includes a protocol stack that can communicate with resources within the network using the assigned address. However, such conventional network protocols are not well suited for communications over different networks using different protocols.